{"id":16981,"date":"2022-03-31T13:32:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T19:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/?p=16981"},"modified":"2022-04-07T14:03:03","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T20:03:03","slug":"students-react-to-kendall-hall-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/2022\/03\/31\/students-react-to-kendall-hall-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Students react to Kendall Hall updates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photo by Balazs Balassa<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University\u2019s latest construction project was completed as of today \u2014 the renovation of Kendall Hall \u2014 and the final product was a shock to all: Kendall Hall is now a coed dormitory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe gave it some thought, and we realized that we, as a university, need to try to stay more consistent with the times,\u201d board member Bryce Walters said. \u201cWhat it comes down to is this: Other Christian universities are progressing along more than we are in some areas \u2026 We were in the midst of reconstructing the building, so we just decided to make it a coed dorm. Simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the midst of the logistical planning for Kendall Hall\u2019s future and who would reside there, COVID-19 spread across campus during the 2020-21 school year. Students who were infected with the coronavirus dealt with the primary response to COVID-19: 10 days of isolation. Students who had no other option were sent to stay in Kendall Hall for the duration of their infection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Affectionately, students called Kendall Hall a coed dorm during this period because both women and men had to reside there, women on the first floor and men on the third. What students didn\u2019t expect was for Kendall Coed Hall to make a reappearance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it when I heard the news,\u201d sophomore Austin Lewis said. \u201cI got COVID last year, so I experienced coed Kendall firsthand. It was fun living near all of my friends of all genders when we were sick, but I never expected Harding to make it a permanent thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While students have mixed opinions about the coed dorm, some are choosing to focus on the benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about time,\u201d freshman Thalia Moore said. \u201cI\u2019m really excited for this opportunity. This isn\u2019t the progressive decision anyone expected Harding to make, but I\u2019m glad they did. I\u2019m hoping to move in with a big group of people next year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others are concerned about the biblical principles and Harding rules this new dorm could challenge. Part of section four of the student handbook for the 2021-22 school year states: \u201cVisiting in the residence of a single member of the opposite sex, even though others are present, without permission from a student life dean, is prohibited. Staying overnight in a residence, motel, hotel or any such arrangement with a member of the opposite sex, without permission from a student life dean, will result in suspension, although explicit sexual immorality may not have been observed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walters spoke to the handbook statement, saying that students and their parents should not worry about breaking any rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe key phrase is: \u2018without permission from a student life dean,\u2019\u201d Walter said. \u201cClearly, students have permission to visit students of the opposite sex in this dorm. However, students should sleep in their own dorm rooms with the same gender. This will be enforced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophomore Dennis Matthews shared his thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not so sure about it,\u201d Matthews said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The University\u2019s latest construction project was completed as of today \u2014 the renovation of Kendall Hall \u2014 and the final product was a shock to all: Kendall Hall is now a coed dormitory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15184,"featured_media":16975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15184"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16982,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16981\/revisions\/16982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}